Re: grades, pass/fail etc.

[Bob LaMontagne <rlamont@POSTOFFICE.PROVIDENCE.EDU>]

A few years ago I started to put heavy emphasis on graded homework. I also do reading quizzes at the beginning of class. While the
students do the quiz - I hand back the graded homework from last class. I then collect the quizzes (2 short conceptual essay questions)
and comment on the problems that I graded on the homework. Then we discuss the homework that they prepared for this class. I let them
run the class during this time and let them ask any questions they wish of me or of other students. I only lecture for 10-20 minutes at
the end of class.

It's a lot of work keeping up with grading the homework and the quizzes, but the class is much more enjoyable to teach. We now have
dialog, arguments, humor, etc. I find that I cover the same amount of material - I just do it during the discussions instead of formal
lecture. They read the text themselves -they have to for the quizzes. At first I was nervous about sometimes missing some topics because
of the limited lecture time - but eventually found that they really were reading it for themselves - and were asking question in class
and in my office when they didn't get something. I'm not sure this would work for everyone. I have mostly pre-med students and they are
very concerned about grades and highly motivated to do whatever work is necessary.

I've been trying to steer my Conceptual Physics and Astronomy courses in the same direction - more successful than I expected. This year
I'll be teaching a Thermo course - see if it works on that level.

Bob at PC

Michael Edmiston wrote:

> I'm teaching a thermodynamics course with 16 juniors and seniors.  They are mostly pretty bright, but not hard workers and not real
> excited about the subject.  (Alas, that last sentence might be typical of all the courses I teach.)
>
> My syllabus says the final grade will be determined by a midterm (1/3) , a final (1/3), and lab reports (1/3).  We have been in
> session for 5 weeks.  After 3 weeks it was clear the students weren't reading the text and certainly weren't doing any of the
> problems in the text even though I was suggesting which problems would be good ones to do.
>
> I don't have a grader, and I am teaching an overload, so I didn't want to assign problems I would have to grade.  One day I walked
> into class and I said, "I am dismayed it seems most of you aren't reading the book and I don't think you are solving the problems
> I've suggested.  Therefore, I am going to start assigning problems and having you hand them in."  I made the first problem
> assignment, and for two weeks I have been having them turn in problems about every two days.  I have been posting the answers and
> sometimes talk about a specific problem in class.  They are doing the problems and also are coming to see me to get help with the
> problems.  This is exactly how it should be.
>
> However... I haven't graded any problems and I never did tell them the problems would (or would not) count as part of the grade.
> Last Wednesday, one of the least shy students came to my office and asked if I was going to hand back any graded problems sets soon.
> I said I didn't know.  He then asked how the problems were going to count in the grade.  I said I wasn't sure they would count,
> except working problems helps them learn the subject and it also helps assure they pass the exams.  He asked why they should bother
> doing the problems if they aren't going to be graded and aren't going to count in the grade.  I said I just told him why.  He then
> asked why I started assigning them and collecting them.  I said I was assigning and collecting problems to pace them through the
> material.
>
> On Friday, when the next problem set was due, only half the class turned them in.  The next time I wonder if anyone will turn in any
> problems.  So this has been an interesting experiment on student motivation.  I hate to say it, but the students I teach are totally
> motivated by the grade.  If the course were pass/fail, and they needed what would traditionally be a C- grade to pass, then they
> would all work at the C- level.  This is not a new revelation to me; its been the way for years, but this little experiment helps
> prove the point.
>
> Students are also totally unrealistic about what it takes to learn the material.  If there is just a midterm and final, they won't
> do anything but come to class until a few days before the exam, and they think they can review/learn/cram it all in just a couple
> days.  The exception to this would be the foreign students who went through most of their training with just midterms and finals, or
> sometimes just a final.
>
> Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
> Professor of Physics and Chemistry
> Chair of Sciences
> Bluffton College
> Bluffton, OH 45817
> (419)-358-3270
> edmiston@bluffton.edu